Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-08-18
MR AMp MRS eowsER.


After supper the other evening Mr.
Dowser pulled . lot Of statements OF
account from his pocket with great
gravity of demeanor. and spreading
them out on the comfortable he said:
':Mrs Bowscr. do you see theseT
lido"
DO you know what they are?'
why. they are the monthly &C.
counts from the grocers."
oh, they are! Well. 1 should say
90! Do you know what this family has
devoured. wasted and given away to
the Pollacks in the last month";"
Il know that we have been very
economical"
DO you? The grand footing is
sixty-fou dollars Mrs. Bowser-over
fifteen dollars per week for family
of four. and one of them a baby and
the other hired girl with the dyspep-
STA. am no miser. but pronounce
this an outraged
'.But I haven't ordered any thing
extra, and I've tried to be very careful
to buy close"
Mrs. Bowser. it's your poor buying
anu poor management You don't
know any more about running house
than l do of bossing steamboat
Either that or else grocers are swim
ding me, and l won't stand it. Here
| after shall do all the buying"
gave the cook orders to tell him
what she wanted, and next morning
! Mr.. Bowser entered upon his duties.
The first purchase he made was a
bushcl of potatoes from a peddler in
front of the house. He gave one dol
lar and ten cents. and told the man
where to carry them. When he came
home to dinner the cook had to tell
him:
Il put that bushcl of potatoes into
three pecks. and then cut up the whole
lot to get good ones enough for din
uer."
The first thing to come up from the
grocery was a consignment of ten cans
of pumpkin. This was followed by
fifty pounds of evaporated apples and
sne hundred dozen clothes-pins. As
nothing further appeared the cook
boiled some potatoes. made pumpkin
i pie and stewed some ct the apples.
When we went out to dinner Mr..
Bowscr looked around IN astonish-
mcnt.
what does this meant" he finally
demanded.
why. it's all you sent"
He couldn't gainsay that and by
and by he explained that he had saved
fully a dollar and q half on his pur.
chases by buying in such quantities
"You paid ten cents per can for
pumpkin. while got the lot for
seven," he went on. Thirty cents
isn't so nue.. but it is as good to me
as to the grocer"
Eyes, but l bought about one can a
month. You have enough here to last
US three years"
'Wcl l saved forty cents on the APP
pies he protested.
I'VE have used just two pounds in
the last six months. Mr.. Bowser At
that rate you have laid in supply for
two years"
There was look of terror in his
ewes, and he dared not proceed to
c!o;hes-pins nor say word about the
potatoes.
Invent down with him the next MORN
Ing. and as We halted in front of a
grocery he called out:
Say, Green. n roast for dinner-two
quarts of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
say. head of cabbage"
When we had driven away he said to
me:
I'VE were just eleven seconds In
front of that grocery. You'd come
down here and fool away half an hour
Ito give the same order. You've got
to be right up and down business with
these fellows"
When we came to sit down to dinner
We had roast pork and strawberries
and boiled cabbage.
| II WsdlC I'D kuoW WuIt tnIS HuCtuS.
exclaimed Mr.. Bowser as he showed
back.
| This is what you ordered. dear.
and it didn't take but eleven seconds.
You didn't specify the sort OF roast
sou wanted. and you didn't tell the
cook whether you wanted tho cabbage
boiled. fried or baked. You are rum
ming the kitchen now, yOu known!
He swallowed few mouthfuls. tried
hard to change the subject. and after
dinner he went into the kitchen and
said to the girl:
Hannah. want sweet cake. tarts.
hot biscuit. raspberries and Clipped
beef for supper"
VERY well. SIR"
'.Til send up every thing as I 60
town."
''Yes. SIR"
About mid.afternoon q grocer
wagon delivered a pound Of cloves, q
pound Of cinnamon and beefsteak.
CVl,o,, If. R,xyso,. oNv,,o homo Tn ann.